Seahawks GM John Schneider (left) spoke with the media on Friday for the first time since last May. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

A little more than a week before his Seahawks team plays in its second Super Bowl in as many seasons, general manager John Schneider met with reporters for the first time since last May’s draft, addressing many of the storylines surrounding the Seahawks throughout the 2014 season.

On Friday, Schneider didn’t say whether or not he planned to have running back Marshawn Lynch back next year, but gave no indication that the team is moving on from “Beast Mode,” who had perhaps the best season of his career in 2014 with 17 combined rushing and receiving touchdowns.

“I mean, he’s under contract next year,” Schneider said before singing the praises of the Seahawks’ workhorse back. “He’s a warrior, goes out there every weekend and lays it on the line. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better running back in the National Football League.”

Lynch held out from Seahawks training camp for a week last summer while seeking more up-front money after signing a four-year, $30 million extension in 2012, with much speculation that with an $8.5 million cap number next season, 2014 could be Lynch’s last season in Seattle.

Schneider also said there was no hard date set for extending quarterback Russell Wilson’s contract as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.

“We don’t have a timetable,” Schneider said. “At the appropriate time, we are able to speak to his representatives, and we’ll do that. We are not in a situation where we can yet.”

Schneider addressed trading wide receiver Percy Harvin, who was shipped to the New York Jets for a sixth-round pick on Oct. 17 a year-and-a-half after the Seahawks sent multiple draft picks — including a 2013 first-rounder — to the Minnesota Vikings for the talented, but temperamental receiver.

“Yeah, so regarding that situation we took a shot for a highly explosive player,” Schneider said. “For a number of different reasons it didn’t work out and we knew that we had to resolve that situation as quickly as we could so that we could just move forward as a football team, as an organization. And it was a very hard decision, one that we didn’t make over night.”

The 43-year-old GM said that the team held free agency meetings earlier than usual this season after playing catch-up following last year’s Super Bowl. That allowed them to extend the contracts of two defensive stalwarts — linebacker K.J. Wright and Cliff Avril — last month, which Schneider said helped as they head toward free agency this year.

“It was a little bit of a different approach, because last year we knew we weren’t going to be involved in free agency much at all,” Schneider said. “We kind of got crunched last year, and I don’t think we did a very good job of it, so we wanted to be ahead of it this year.”

Schneider said that doesn’t necessarily mean that the team will be more active in the free-agent market in 2015, just that they’ll be more prepared than they were after their first Super Bowl victory.

“We’re more prepared for what other people would think about our free agents or how we feel about other people’s free agents. Last year, by the time we got to the combine it was just a whirlwind,” Schneider said. “I just feel like we could do a better job this year.”

He identified re-signing cornerback Byron Maxwell as one of the team’s key jobs over the offseason. The fourth-year cornerback played well while replacing Brandon Browner opposite Richard Sherman in the Legion of Boom, and could command a high price as an unrestricted free agent.

“That quite frankly is one of our first priorities, is to talk to Maxie,” Schneider said. “Now I think he — like a lot of our other unrestricted guys — I think he is going to be highly sought after, and he should be. But we would at least like to have the opportunity to retain him.”

Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, center, walks on the field as players stretch Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, during NFL football practice in Renton, Wash. The Seahawks are to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) less

Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, center, walks on the field as players stretch Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, during NFL football practice in Renton, Wash. The Seahawks are to face the New England ... more

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, right, stretches as he talks with assistant offensive line coach Chris Morgan, left, during NFL football practice, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, in Renton, Wash. The ... more

Photo: Ted S. Warren / AP

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Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll walks on the field as players stretch Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, during NFL football practice in Renton, Wash. The Seahawks are to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) less

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll walks on the field as players stretch Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, during NFL football practice in Renton, Wash. The Seahawks are to face the New England Patriots in Super ... more

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll talks to reporters, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, after NFL football practice in Renton, Wash. The Seahawks are to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) less

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll talks to reporters, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, after NFL football practice in Renton, Wash. The Seahawks are to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, ... more